The Liverpool boss urged fans to keep believing their team can lift the Premier League trophy for the first time.

Manchester City are in the box seat after ­Liverpool’s defeat by Chelsea, which ended an 11-game winning run in the league.

But Rodgers ­challenged his men to win their last two matches to pile ­pressure back on their rivals.

“To lose is obviously a big disappointment after the incredible run we’ve been on, but we’ll take that on the chin,” said the Anfield chief. “We’ll recover, go again and hopefully we can get the win next time, against Crystal Palace.

“We now need to win the two games and see where it takes us. There’s still a way to go.

“If we win our last two games we will finish above Chelsea and maybe Manchester City, and that’s our objective now.”

Rodgers was angered by Chelsea’s antics at Anfield, particularly time wasting from the first minute.

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Good sports: Rodgers has hailed his players' attitudes

And perhaps making a point to Jose Mourinho, he added: “This is a great group of players, a very honest group. We have a way of working and I take pride in that.

“We will try to win in a sporting manner.”

The Reds’ chief knows his biggest task before Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace will be to raise the morale of his devastated troops following the defeat by Chelsea.

Rodgers said: “I’m very proud of the players. You can’t win them all. We had a big game against Chelsea and it didn’t go our way, but I couldn’t fault the players.

“We just couldn’t get through a defence that was very strong.

“But I look at the bigger picture and the strides we’ve made this year have been incredible.

“At the beginning of the season, you’d have looked at it and ­probably said there would be three or four teams ahead of us for fourth place – but when we won at Norwich and ­qualified directly, there was barely a mention of it.

“That actually shows the remarkable journey we’ve been on and how the standards have been high.”

Rodgers knows that nobody will be feeling the anguish more deeply than skipper Steven Gerrard, although he ­highlighted his captain’s role in ensuring Luis Suarez – named PFA Player of the Year on Sunday – has been around to be so integral to ­Liverpool’s bid for glory.

“There were a number of things that kept Luis here with us,” said Rodgers. “I needed to point out the vision and identify the way the club was going and to allow players to buy into it.

“He knew I would shape the team around his qualities.

“Also, guys like Steven were talking to him in the background, telling him he had an opportunity to be a legend at the club, and also the owners were brilliant.

“For players like Luis, it’s ­important that they can play at the big level and I think he appreciates how the ­Champions League nights at Anfield are going to be.

“That was key to it. That’s what he was missing. I’ve been to matches this season, both here and in Europe, and I’ve thought that a player of the ability of Luis Suarez has to be playing at this level.

“His loyalty in staying at Liverpool, to continue to fight to get us there, is remarkable and now he can get the rewards for that next season with those big European nights.”